Lucy and Coach
by AuraAuthor
Summary: She had survived on her own for over a year. She lived by a set of rules which kept her safe. The most important rule was to never trust anyone. So why in the hell was she breaking that rule for him? He wanted to take her back to his compound, introduce her to Negan, and keep her. Why was she agreeing to this again? This is the first story in a series! Enjoy! AA
1. Chapter 1

Coach and Lucy

By AuraAuthor

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Chapter 1 The Haven

"I shouldn't have to make these kind of fucking trips," Negan growled from the passenger seat of the truck.

"I know sir," Simon replied. "I hate to ask you to do this, but even killing a couple of this group hasn't made a difference. Sometimes they need the real fear of you and Lucille in order to comply."

"Maybe we should get you a bad ass bat like Lucille Simon. Maybe, just maybe if you had a pretty girl like mine swung over your shoulder then you wouldn't have any problems getting these pussies to do what is expected of them."

"We can check sporting goods stores on our next run sir. See what we can find."

"You do that Simon. And when you find our pretty girl," Negan said lovingly stroking his baseball bat, "we'll give her a name and you can test her out while I watch. I always was a fucking voyeur when it came to popping cherries."

Simon chuckled. "I'll be happy to let you watch sir."

"You bet your dumb fucking ass you will."

"The gate is just up here sir."

"Well let's get this show on the fucking road."

Simon slowed down as he approached the gate to the community. "What the fuck do they call this place?" Negan asked with a grunt.

"The Haven," Simon responded with a chuckle.

Negan snorted. "The Haven? Like a fucking safe haven? Well isn't that just rich."

The gate before them opened slowly and three men with sticks approached the caravan. "We told you not to come back Simon," one of the shouted.

Simon had exited the truck as the trio approached and was now standing in front of the vehicle with his hands on his hips. Negan made no move to get out of the truck, but he did unzip his classic black leather jacket. He shrugged out of it and tossed it on the seat of the truck. He didn't want to get any blood on it when swinging time came.

"I told you that I would be back Gerald and that I would not only have reinforcements but I would have the man himself in tow," Simon took a couple of steps towards the trio. "Now Gerald, Karen and I had a good thing going. We gave her the list, provided you protection, and in turn she gave us everything we required."

"Karen ain't in charge anymore. She's dead because your protection got her killed Simon."

"Gerald, Gerald, Gerald," Simon said shaking his head. "Karen got killed because she was a dumb bitch that thought she could get out of our deal. Please don't be a stupid bitch like her." Simon made a show of pressing his hands together as if he were praying.

"That's enough of this fucking shit," Negan said exiting the truck and strolling cockily up to the group with Lucille swung over his shoulder. "Gerald? You the new leader of this shithole?"

"Who the hell are you?"

Negan smiled at him. "You don't know who I am?"

Gerald, a balding man with a lean build and bow legged stature, grimaced. "If I knew who you were mister I wouldn't have asked. Now who are you?"

"Well Gerald," Negan said with a sarcastic tone. "I am the master of this little caravan and in turn the master of you and your group. You may be 'the leader'", Negan said with air quotes, "of this little rag tag group, but all of you fuckers answer to me."

"Negan," one of the trio whispered.

"That's right fuckers. Now are we going to have a problem? Does Lucille get to taste some blood today because she has been getting really thirsty lately?"

"We don't answer to you," Gerald replied with a sneer.

"Wrong answer fucker," Negan said before rushing Gerald and smashing Lucille into the side of his face.

The spurt of blood was instantaneous, but Gerald managed to stay on his feet which caused a cruel smile to graze Negan's face. "Look at this fucker," he shouted with a laugh. "He took it like a man! Too bad the next one is gonna knock you down!"

The beating was brutal and Negan was glad he had taken his jacket off and left it in the truck. "I've never seen so much blood! Look at this fucker bleed!" he shouted to the group that had gathered. "Now are there any other questions about who is in charge around here? Lucille isn't full and happy yet! She'll be happy to fuck another one of you fine folks over!"

The group from The Haven sunk back from the open gate. "Wonderful! Look at how welcoming you all are! Arrat don't forget to take his picture for our wall of honor! Now who wants to give me a tour?"

Negan made his way through the gathered crowd and pointed Lucille at an elderly woman. "Simon, I didn't know your grandmother survived all this shit!" He grinned at the woman. "It is an honor to meet you," and he paused for her to give her name.

"Mabel," she said softly.

"Well it is a fucking honor to meet you Ms. Mabel. How about you give me a tour of your little safe haven here and I'll give directions about what we will be taking with us."

"You are a horrible man Mr. Negan," Mabel said before starting off away from the gate. "Come on then don't dawdle. I haven't got all day."

"Bitchy old bird isn't she," Negan said with a snort. "Reminds me of a school teacher I had back in the day."

Negan and Simon followed Mabel through the small compound and pointed out things they would be taking with them. "Ms. Mabel you have been a true delight," Negan said planting a kiss on the old woman's cheek.

"Are you done with me then?" she spat at him.

He nodded. "Yes ma'am. I'm done with you." He grinned at her before he brought Lucille bashing down on the top of the gray haired woman's head. "Damn!" he shouted after one more hit. "She didn't hold up like the other fucker did."

"Why?" a young woman sobbed from behind Negan. "Why did you do that?"

"I said she reminded me of a teacher that I had and damn if I didn't hate that teacher. It's not every day that you get to take vengeance out right sweetheart," he grinned toothily at the woman.

Negan shrugged as the young woman fell down on her knees next to the bleeding corpse. "I think I'll look around a bit myself Simon," he said over his shoulder. "I'll just see what they may be hiding around here. Meet you back at the truck in ten."

"Yes sir," Simon said before turning back to the work at hand.

Negan was following a sound around the side of a house when he heard the shouting. "Fuck," he breathed out in frustration. "What the hell is going on now?"

He strolled back around to the front of the house to find a herd of walkers stumbling through the open gate. "Fuck!"

"Boss!" Simon shouted, but he was too far and there were too many walkers to push through.

"Go Simon! Go! I'll find you!" he screamed over the group of walkers and swung Lucille taking out two at one time. "Just get the fuck out of here!" he screamed at Simon again, before sprinting along the side of the house.

He hadn't realized before that the side he was walking on was nothing more than a shallow alley way. "Fuck!" he was trapped and he knew it.

If he could keep his stance and take the walkers out a few at a time he might survive. He swung Lucille back and forth a couple of times and readied himself for the onslaught. "Hey!" a voice shouted from behind him. "Don't be an idiot! You can't take them all on by yourself! Get in here!"

He glanced backwards to see a blond haired woman with a cellar door open that he hadn't noticed before. "What are you staring at mister? Get in here so we can seal the door shut!"

Negan didn't speak as he dove into the cellar and helped the woman secure the door. "We need to get back from the door so they can't smell us," she said grabbing his hand. "How many did you take out before you ended up in the alley? You are covered in blood mister."

He didn't respond. "The smell of the rotten potatoes should cover our scent until they wander off," she said softly before plopping down on the ground behind two bins of rotten potatoes. "Come on, sit down mister, it's probably going to be a while before they wander off so it's no point in wasting your energy slouching in this cellar."

He nodded at her, barely able to make her out in the darkness of the cellar. He sat down a couple feet away from her. "I… I bet you wondering what I'm doing here," she stuttered out. "I was just trying to refill my foot storage and this house was vacant. I… I hope you aren't angry with me for stealing some of your food."

"What?" he said flipping his head towards her? "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You're mad. I'm… I'm sorry. I'll put back what I took and I'll leave as quick as its safe."

"Sugar I don't give a flying fuck what you do. I just need to get the fuck out of this cellar and out of this shit hole community."

"The people aren't friendly here huh?"

"Sugar it ain't got nothing to do with friendliness. I don't belong here."

"Makes two of us," she murmured.

They sat in silence for several minutes and listened to the snarling noises from the walkers outside. "I take it you aren't from The Haven," he finally said.

"N… no, no. I was just passing through and there was a hole in the fence. It was easy to get in here and I just needed some food. I've been out for a couple of days now and have been making do with some rotten apples I got off the ground a few miles back."

"Well no worries darling. About stealing their shit I mean."

"Their shit?"

"Yep, their shit. I'm not a part of this fucking place either. I just ended up cornered in this fucking alley way and you saved my ass. I guess I should be fucking grateful."

She chuckled. "What's funny?" he asked.

"I guess that's as close to a thank you as I'm going to get."

"Damn straight."

"I'm Lucille by the way," Negan glanced up at her with a shocked expression she couldn't see in dark. "Everybody calls me Lucille expect my mother. She's always called me Lucy."

Negan was silent. "Now is typically when you tell me your name."

He snorted. "Yep," was his response.

"So do I get to know? Or should I name you myself?"

"And just what the fuck would you call me woman?"

She sat quietly for a minute. "Coach," she said matter of factly.

"Coach?"

"Yeah coach. You shall hence forth be called coach."

"Why in the fucking fuck are you naming me coach?"

"You remind me of a volleyball coach I had in high school," she said with a shrug.

Negan snorted again. "Lucy and Coach. Coach and Lucy. We will make one bad ass comedy team."

Now it was her turn to snort. "If only the creepers thought we were funny we might could get out of this easier."

"Creepers?"

"The dead ones. I think you called them walkers."

"Right. One fucking great comedy team," he said with another snort.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Out of the Cellar

Lucy watched Coach peer through the crack in the cellar door. "There are three that I can see from here," he whispered. "I think that's probably as good as we are going to get."

Lucy stood and grabbed something from against the wall before moving to stand next to him. "How do you want to do this?" she whispered back.

He grunted. "I don't see any kind of fucking weapon on you little lady so pardon my damn French but I don't think you are going to be much fucking help in this situation."

Lucy snorted. "I'm good Coach. I can handle myself. Now is there a plan or are we just winging it?"

"Here's the plan. I'm gonna throw these fucking doors open and start swinging Lu… my bat and you just stay the fuck out of the way so you don't get hit. How's that for a plan?"

"Open the doors Coach. I'll stay out of your way."

He snorted again before sliding the metal bar that held the doors securely in place loose. "Stay out of my fucking way," he said before he pushed the doors open.

It was fortunate that the sun was setting as they climbed out of the cellar because Negan's vision didn't really have to adjust. He hit one walker hard enough to remove its head from its body before he moved on to the next. He was turning to take care of the other one he could see clearly in the alley but was shocked to find Lucy had already had it dispatched. "Damn little girl. That is one big ass machete you have there."

"The better to kill creepers with, my dear," she responded and started walking away from him.

"Hey, wait a fucking minute, just wait a fucking minute. Where the fuck do you think you are going?"

"Away from here. Bye Coach it's been real."

Negan took three long strides and caught her by the back pack. "Why do you want to leave so fucking badly Lucy?"

"Well, not sure if you noticed but there are still about twenty creepers hanging around and I would just as soon put some distance between me and them."

"But why can't we stay together Lucy? I make great fucking company."

She shook her head. "No Coach. I go my way, you go yours."

Negan propped Lucille on his shoulder and stared at her. "Now Lucy, I'm not a jackass or anything and I fully know and believe that a woman is just as capably of offing a fucking walker as a man. Hell you might be more fucking capable because you have that whole woman scorned shit going on, but regardless, two against the world of the dead is better than one. Don't you think?"

Lucy shook her head. "No Coach. I don't think so."

She started walking away from him again and used her machete to dispatch another walker before she turned towards the front gates. Negan kept Lucille propped on his shoulder and followed behind Lucy at a short distance taking out the walkers she missed along the way. He noticed the body of Gerald at the front gate and wondered if Arrat had taken a picture of the old woman too. He had let his anger get the better of him with that one. He didn't hurt women, it wasn't part of his code.

Women, no matter how young or old, were to be cherished and cared for by men. Women were weak and gullible and they needed a man to watch out for them. He had always tried to protect the women in his care, even those that didn't opt to be one of his wives. He was going to watch out for Lucy and take care of her too whether she liked it or not.

She was about a quarter of a mile ahead of him and it would only take him a few extra steps to catch up to her, but he let her keep her distance. If she wasn't one of The Haven's people as she said then where in the hell had she come from? She wasn't one of Rick's people and he had never seen her at The Hilltop. Maybe she was part of The Kingdom. He had never been inside the place to know just how many people Ezekiel was housing these days.

Curiosity won out and he closed the distance between them. "So where is home Lucy?"

"Why are you following me Coach?"

"Why are you avoiding my questions Lucy?"

"Why are you asking these questions Coach?"

"Why are you being a stubborn bitch Lucy?"

"Why is every other word a curse word with you Coach?"

"I like to think of them as sentence enhancers Lucy. Now where the fuck are you from?"

She stopped and glared at him. "Nowhere and everywhere. Where are you from Coach?"

He pursed his lips before he grinned at her. "I'm from a place called The Sanctuary. Have you heard of it?"

Lucy stepped back from him. "You can head back there then."

"Why don't you come with me? It's a pretty nice fucking place."

"That is run by a madman who lets others do the dirty work while he reaps the rewards," she stated before she started walking again.

"So I see you have heard of it then Lucy. Like I said it's a pretty nice fucking place. Especially when you compare it to shit holes like The Haven."

"Look Coach, I don't do well trapped in walls. I never have and I sure won't do well taking orders from a mad man."

"You've said that twice now. Who is this mad man you speak of? I don't know about any fucking mad man at The Sanctuary."

Lucy wrinkled her nose and he smirked. "You're cute when you do that."

"What?"

"Wrinkle your nose."

"Oh shut up Coach."

"Not until you tell me about this 'mad man' at The Sanctuary. Never heard of anybody like that around there."

"Well… it could just be gossip or… horror stories to keep people away, but I'm not willing to take the chance. Head on back if you want too. It's gonna be hard out here if you are used to that comfort, but you'll be back soon enough."

"What's his name?"

"Who?"

"The leader of The Sanctuary. The fucker that you seem to be so afraid of. What's his name?"

She snorted. "I've… heard his name is Negan. But all of his followers call themselves that so I don't know if it's his real name or not."

"What makes him such a bad guy?"

"From what I've heard he just sits up in his lofty little pent house in The Sanctuary surrounded by a bunch of women and he gives orders to this followers to take over other communities. But I've never been there and I don't plan on going to see about the truth."

"We aren't too far from there you know."

"Don't care."

"It's only about 3 days' worth of walking. And of course we might come across someone who could give us a ride and make the journey easier on us."

"I'm not going to The Sanctuary Coach."

"Humor me Lucy. Maybe Negan isn't as bad as you think. Maybe The Sanctuary is a nice fucking place where someone like you would be welcomed and appreciated."

Lucy glared at him and shifted her back pack. "We'll walk in the same direction, but I'm not going to that place with you. I'd rather not take my chances with the rumor of Negan."

"Any other communities that you've heard shit about?" he asked starting to walk down the road slightly ahead of her.

"Yeah, some place called Alexandria. It's supposedly led by a cop from the previous life who doles out punishment like its nothing. He and Negan are made for each other apparently."

"Where do you get this shit from?" Negan asked glancing over his shoulder.

"People talk. I listen. Most of the time they don't know I'm there."

"Bloody fucking brilliant."

"Do you think you could clean up your language a little bit? I mean I know I don't look like much but I am a woman and it's kind of rude to talk like that in front of me."

"Excuse me princess, I'll watch the fucking curse words when I'm in your presence."

She snorted, but followed him along the road.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Journey

"How fucking long are you planning on walking tonight?"

Lucy grunted before she spoke. "I walk until I get tired and then I make camp. I asked you to stop cussing so much Coach."

"Pardon me," he said sarcastically. "So sorry you don't like my fu…" she shot him a glare. "My sentence enhancers," he finished with a smirk. "Why don't we go ahead and make camp now princess?"

"What about my demeanor makes you think I'm a princess?" she asked haughtily. "I'm filthy and I know I stink to high heaven. What regalness do I possess that makes you deem me a princess?"

Negan twisted his mouth into a half smile. "It's the way you carry yourself, princess."

She growled at him but kept walking.

"I mean I've run across a lot of people since the world went to hell and you are the first that seems to have a plan in all of this nonsense. You are tough, prepared, and can definitely hold your own."

"So?"

"So, I'm just thinking that you'd be a great asset to The Sanctuary. I mean you are tough as nails and I'm sure under all that dirt you aren't bad to look at, but maybe if we get you cleaned up Negan will take a liking to you and want to keep you around."

"I'm not a whore."

"Didn't say you were princess. He doesn't fuck every woman that rolls in the door. My understanding is he gives women a choice. Become one of his wives and want for nothing or become one of his followers and work for what you need."

"He sounds like a real peach, but I'm not interested."

"When do you think you're gonna be tired, princess?"

"Why? You running out of steam on me Coach? You can make camp anytime you like, but I've got some more miles to go before I sleep."

"A poet too."

"Nope, just some of what I remember from high school."

"What did you do before all of this shit it the fan?"

"Nothing that I'm telling you Coach."

"Why not princess? I'm just making conversation."

"That will be reported back to Negan and I have no desire to become a prisoner in his camp for him to try and break me."

Negan snorted. "You seem to know an awful lot about him for someone you've never met."

"Just know what I've heard," she shouted over her shoulder before stopping in the middle of the road.

Negan took the last three steps and stopped beside her. "What?" he asked glancing around the area.

"There's a shack over there," she said pointing through an overgrown area of trees.

"And?"

"I'm planning to spend the night there. Are you joining or are you going to keep walking?" she said rolling her eyes at him.

He grinned. "I'm with you princess. I might need you to protect me from all those walkers that are sure to be wandering around."

"You're an asshole," she said with a smirk of her own.

"So they tell me."

She started out through grove of trees before he followed her. "And Princess?"

"Yeah Coach?"

"Watch that language, my ears are delicate."

"Shut up Coach," she said with a laugh.

The shack was nothing more than a hole in the wall. It was one large room that housed a fireplace and years' worth of dirt, but it was dry and that would do for a night or two. "Home sweet home," Negan muttered glancing around at the dark surroundings.

"At least it's dry and there aren't creepers around. It's been shut up and that's a good thing for us because we should be safe if we can bar the door appropriately."

"Let's do it then because my ass is tired."

She glared at him. "Excuse me princess, my derriere is tired."

She opened her back pack and withdrew a length of rope that she used to secure the door in addition to the slit lock that was located on the top portion of the door. She pulled a box of baking soda out of her bag and sprinkled it around the base of the door frame. "What's that for?" Negan asked while making sure the two windows in the room were locked and that the curtains were pulled tight over them.

"Covers the scent. I probably don't have to use it because you smell like blood and I smell like garbage, but it helps me sleep better."

Negan grinned. "Pretty smart."

She snorted. "I try."

"Do you plan to build a fire or are we using body heat?" he said with a cheeky grin.

"We aren't building a fire Coach. The smell will draw creepers and I want to rest. We can sleep back to back and that should keep us warm enough with the blanket I have."

"And here I was hoping for a little skin to skin contact princess?"

"You must be hard up Coach."

"Why do you say that?" he asked with his back towards her.

"I smell like garbage and you've already made it clear I'm not much to look at under all this dirt."

"Oh sugar, don't get your feelings hurt over my previous statements. I was being a smart ass."

"Just shut up already. When was the last time you ate?" she asked pulling apples and pears from her bag.

"This morning," he said without thinking and mentally punched himself.

She didn't know who he was and he was going to need her help to get back to camp. He couldn't risk her figuring out that he was the bad guy in this situation.

"Do you want an apple or a pear? I know it isn't much, but it's all I've got. The potatoes were too rotten to take and I've never really done well with them raw anyway."

"I'm good princess. Eat what you need to."

She nodded at him before taking a bite of an obviously rotten apple and digging around in her backpack again. "That's an impressive pack," he said.

"If you try to take it I'll kill you Coach."

Negan placed his hands in front of him in a show of defense. "Just making conversation."

She threw something at him and he caught the odd piece of material. "It's a sweatshirt. You can either put it on or ball it up and put it under your head for a pillow."

"That really is a magic fucking bag," he whispered. "Who are you? Mary Poppins?"

"If only," she muttered. "I'd be dancing in a chalk drawing instead of slumming it with you in this hole."

He grinned and she could see his teeth in the growing darkness. "You've got a nice smile," she commented.

"But?"

"You look like that cat that ate the canary and got away with the crime."

He chuckled. "Come on princess. Finish the apple so we can snuggle and go to sleep."

He could feel her glaring at him in the dark. "You really are an asshole," she muttered before settling down on the floor next to him and draping a thin blanket over them. "Don't try anything stupid Coach. I'm a light sleeper and I have no problem killing you."

"Yes ma'am princess. I wouldn't dare cause harm to my protector and… savior," he whispered in her ear making her shudder next to him.

Several minutes later when she was relaxed and her breathing was even he thought about taking her bag and heading out on his own, but in the end decided against it. He hadn't been on his own in a while and two against the walkers was always better than one. Especially when dealing with a herd. He could trip her and let them take her down while he escaped. He smiled to himself as he drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 My Rules

The sun was high in the sky when Negan woke from his fitful sleep. The shack was empty. "Fuck," he breathed out. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Problem?" she said suddenly leaning against the door frame.

"Well shit," he said sitting up quickly. "You didn't… I figured you would leave me as quick as you could Lucy. But I am fucking glad to know you are still here."

"What can I say Coach, you don't make for bad company and I've been alone for a while?"

"Why'd you let me sleep so long Lucy? We won't be getting to The Sanctuary in good time if you let me sleep half the day away."

She shrugged. "You looked peaceful. Besides I'm not going to your precious Sanctuary and the longer it takes to get there the better off I'll be."

"How do you figure?"

"You'll get tired of me soon enough and then you'll head on to your place and I'll keep on my way to wherever I'm headed."

Negan watched her carefully, but he didn't speak again. "Quiet suddenly there Coach?"

"Thinking."

"About?"

"What in the fuck could possibly be wrong with you that you don't want to go to a clean place with good people, running water, electricity, and plenty of comfort?"

She sighed and shook her head. He noticed that her face was cleaner that it had been and she had on a different shirt. "You do laundry this morning or something?" he asked sarcastically.

"Or something," she replied before tossing him a clean white t-shirt. "It may be a little tight but it's better than what you currently have on. At least it doesn't smell like blood."

"You gonna wash this one?" he asked.

"Hell no," she responded standing up straight in the doorway. "I'm not your maid Coach. You want it clean wash it yourself."

She watched him stand up and pull the bloody shirt over his head. "He wasn't awful to look at," she thought to herself before shaking her head violently. "Remember the rules," she muttered out loud, turning away from him.

"Rules?" he asked loudly.

"Yes. Rules."

He watched her leave the doorframe before he followed behind her dirty shirt in hand. "Don't forget the sweatshirt," she yelled over her shoulder and he smirked.

He stepped back into the shack and grabbed the sweatshirt he had used for a pillow from the floor before following her out the door again to a small fire she had built. "I baked the apples this morning to kill any bacteria that might be in them so you can help yourself."

"Dutch oven," he said glancing at her camp site. "Good thinking."

"I try."

He sat down on the ground near the fire and watched her move around the little camp stopping every moment or so to listen for noises. "Kind of jumpy aren't you?" he said.

"Listening for creepers. The fire draws them a lot of times and that herd was pretty big. We really aren't far enough away from them to justify lighting it but I had to in order to make those apples edible."

"Another one of those rules you like so much," he asked with a smirk.

She glared at him. "The rules have kept me alive without needing to follow a mad man."

He grinned at her. "Touché," he said brightly.

"I've only got a little water, but I'm boiling some over here that should get us until we make camp again."

"Where'd the water come from?"

She nodded to a barrel leaned up against the side of the shack. "It was full of rain water so I skimmed the top and brought out a couple cupful's to boil."

"Aren't you just a great little girl scout Lucy?"

"Somebody has to be. We all can't be like you and depend on the kindness of others. That kindness will get you killed."

"I will have you know I don't depend on the kindness of anybody."

"What do you call this then Coach?"

She turned her back to him and stoked the fire to keep the water boiling in the pot. When she turned back around he was standing over her with a wide grimace on his face. "Let me make one thing perfectly fucking clear princess," he whispered. "I don't depend on anybody. I am in control and while I am playing along with your fucking game right now I don't need you and I never did… Lucy."

She swallowed hard and met his stare. "You don't scare me Coach," she whispered. "I've dealt with much worse men than you and have survived. You aren't any different and you can't intimidate me. Now back the fuck off!"

He grinned at her. "Look at you. Just look at you! Lucy the Girl Scout has got a pair! A big brass pair from where I'm standing! Well damn honey I'm glad you are on my side in all of this because I don't think I would want you for a fucking enemy for sure!"

He stepped back from her with his hands in front of him. "I like feisty women."

"And I like silent men."

"Like I said, feisty," he lowered his hands and smirked at her. "What can I do to help princess?"

She eyed him carefully. "Can you hunt?"

"I'll be back in a minute with something we can cook princess," he grinned at her toothily and walked away.

She watched his back side for a moment before she shook her head. "Lucy," she said out loud, "rule number one is that we don't trust anyone. We don't trust anyone in this world. Especially good looking men who will charm us and use us and leave us again. Get it together Lucy and keep your head on straight."

True to his word Coach was back in about fifteen minutes with a wild rabbit. "I'll gut it and dress it if you don't mind cooking it, I'm shit at not burning stuff over an open fire."

She nodded and reached into a pocket of her back pack for some salt and black pepper and a metal skewer set that made roasting game easier. "Ever prepared princess."

She grinned at him. "Can't be a good scout if you aren't prepared Coach."

Negan brought the freshly dressed rabbit to the fire. "Here you are princess. What else can I do?"

She glared at him. "Sit down and shut up. That would be helpful."

"Yes ma'am."

He watched her move around the fire and was impressed with her skills. She would definitely make a great addition to his Sanctuary. Hell she would make a great addition to his wives. He wondered what it would take to convince her to stay. She didn't strike him as the kind of woman that would just be willing to shack up with him. No, he had already made that mistake with Sasha and she had tried to kill him by letting herself turn. He frowned at the memory. Lucy would have to be willing to stay. He could see her pulling the same sort of move if he tried to force her. Not to mention he didn't exactly have leverage over her.

"You are thinking mighty hard over their Coach."

He grunted at her but didn't speak.

"If you are trying to figure out how to keep me around you can just let it drop. We are going to separate before we get to close to that hell hole of yours and I'm not sticking with you."

"Damn princess you can read minds."

"I can read one track minds."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"You think I'm a prize and you want to impress that crazy leader of yours, Negan. I'm not a prize and I'm not out to impress. I'm out to survive."

"What if I was able to convince you to stay?"

"Fat chance."

"What if… what if I wanted you to stay with me? Not because of your skills or because you are indeed a prize. What if I wanted to get to know you better?"

She stopped turning the rabbit and stared at him. "Why… why would that… why would you want that?"

"I like you Lucy."

"You've only known me for 12 hours Coach. Hell I don't even know your real name."

"In this world you don't get the chance to take your time Lucy. You have to act when you see something you want. Hell you've been doing that on your own, but with food and supplies. I want to do it with you. I want to claim you, at least for the next several days."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe. But I see something I like and instead of just taking it, I'm asking for permission."

She eyed him before turning back to the rabbit. "I'm not special Coach. I'm not talented or pretty or… or sexy. I'm just a good girl scout."

"Sexy is in the eye of the beholder Lucy and from where I'm sitting you are damn sexy and I would love to fuck the shit out of you right now."

She snatched her head up to stare at him with her mouth wide open and he held his hands up in front of him. "But that's a little too fast, even for me, even in this fucked up world we live in now."

He moved closer to her and the fire. "All I'm asking for is the next three days. Three days to let me get to know you and you… get to know me. If when we get outside the Sanctuary gates you don't want to go in then I'll walk away and let you leave safely."

"But?" she paused, suddenly breathing fast.

"But," he stroked her cheek with one of his fingers, "if you want to stay… with me… then you can and we can build from there."

She didn't pull away from his touch and Negan was pleased that she wasn't pretending like so many of the others. "What do you say Lucy?"

She watched him for a moment before she pulled away from him. "The rabbits burning," she said softly and he sighed before sitting back away from her.

When the rabbit was done she moved the skewer away from the fire to let it cool and they ate off the skewer together. She didn't make eye contact with him again and neither of them spoke while they ate. When she had cleaned the skewer and Negan had bottled the cooled water they sat around the fire in silence. "I… I was planning to stay here at least one more night, Coach. But you can move on if you want too. There are still five hours or so of day light left."

"Do you want me to leave?" Negan spat at her.

She glared at him and shrugged her shoulders. "You can if you want. You aren't bothering me in the slightest."

"Tell me about your rules."

"What?"

"Your rules. Tell me what they are Lucy."

"Why?"

"Just making conversation," he said with a shrug.

"Well," she paused trying to decide if telling him her rules would create a problem. "Rule number one is not to trust anyone ever."

He nodded. "That's an excellent rule. You can't trust anyone these days."

"Even you?"

"Especially me," he said with a nod.

"Rule number two is to find water every day."

"Another good rule to live by Lucy."

"Rule number three is to take help when it is offered but don't trust it is offered without reason. Rule five is to keep moving but find places to rest every couple of days."

"Also good rules to live by, are there any others?"

She shook her head. "Always refer to rule one."

"Rule one is important. It's probably the most important one of all Lucy."

Lucy nodded. If it was so fucking important why was she having trouble sticking to it all of a sudden?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Camp and Clean

"Hey Lucy!" Negan shouted from outside the shack.

"Damn Coach don't be so loud! Are you trying to draw creepers?"

"Come see what I found," he said with a wide grin that seemed more genuine than any smile he had given her before.

She grabbed her machete and pulled the door to the shack closed behind her as she wandered towards his voice. "You are such an idiot," she muttered to herself. "You are feeling something and that is the complete opposite of sticking to rule number one."

"Do you talk to yourself often?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.

"When you've only had yourself for company you do what you need to keep from going crazy."

He grinned at her again. "I'm glad you grabbed your machete, but I don't think you are going to need it where we are going."

"It's to protect me from you Coach," she mumbled.

He looked hurt by that statement. "I… okay," was all he said.

"Why aren't you toting your bat?"  
"Don't need it," he muttered pushing through some underbrush.

The bushes opened up to a small stream that was crystal clear. "Wow," she said softly. "This is beautiful."

"Yeah, the world may have gone to shit, but there are still great things out there that haven't been discovered yet."

He glanced at her and for the first time since lunch she made genuine eye contact with him. "I wish I had more water bottles to fill," she said with a shrug.

"I thought we could at least wash off," he said with a grin. "I mean I don't know about you but I am fucking filthy and need a bath."

"Can you take a bath in a stream Coach? It's not the warm baths or showers you are used too."

"Don't make me regret showing you this smart ass."

"I think you showed me because you are hoping to see my ass."

He grinned. "I wouldn't complain if you showed it to me, but I just really thought you might like to clean up decently."

"Getting sick of the smell?"

He glared at her. "Take a bath, I'll keep watch… smart ass."

She watched him walk away and sit down beneath a tree with his back to the stream. She watched him for a moment and then stared at the water. The need to feel clean won out over her rules for the first time in a long time. She stripped out of her clothes and stacked them neatly on a rock before she slipped into the shallow stream.

The water was freezing but she didn't really care. She wished she had her soap to really clean her hair and body but she would just have to make do with the running water. She lay back in the water and washed her long dirty blond hair not once, but twice until it didn't feel dirty anymore. She took her time soaking in the water and was turning to head back towards the bank when she noticed Coach leaning against the tree watching her.

"Just wanted me to have a chance to get clean huh?"

He smirked at her and held her clothes up in his hand. "Can you blame me? Besides you would have come straight out of the water and put on these clothes and then you would have been stuck in damp clothing for the rest the day. At least this way you know I've seen everything and you can air dry before you get dressed."

"That is the sound reasoning of a voyeur."

"Or a man who is attracted to the woman he's hanging around with."

"Or a man who is hard up and hasn't had any in a while and is attracted to the first thing with a vagina he finds."

He laughed. "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy," he shook his head as he straightened up from the tree. "I'm not hard up for anything involving a woman. Never have been. If I say I want to fuck you because I'm attracted to you I mean it just like that, not because I'm looking for someplace to stick my dick."

She watched him for a moment and was appalled at the tingle she felt between her legs. She was hard up for sure and hadn't had sex in years, but there was no way she was going to let that happen with this complete stranger. She did have some standards. "To bad Coach."

"What?"

"I have an excellent place you can stick your dick, but another rule is no sex without a bed or at the very least a back seat."

"My princess has standards, well that's a fucking relief."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm getting kind of old to rut around on the hard forest floor. Now, don't get me wrong Lucy if you were willing I would make us a pallet out of pine straw and fuck you into oblivion, but I prefer a bed as well."

Lucy suddenly realized she was standing in a shallow stream completely naked having a conversation about being fucked by a strange man and all her confidence left her. "Um… Coach… can… can I have my clothes now?"

"Sure princess. Come on over and get them from me."

She took a deep breath and moved towards him. When she was two steps in front of him she reached out for her clothes, but instead of handing them over as she expected he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him. She fit against him perfectly with just enough height difference that she had to look up at him. He slid one callused hand down her back and gripped her ass. "You may not see it," he whispered to her and her genitals tingled again, "but you are one fucking hot woman."

He closed the distance between them and slammed his mouth against hers. She fought against responding but her body betrayed her and before she could stop herself her arms were around his neck and her hands were in his hair pulling him closer to her.

The kiss was hot and when he pulled away from her and bit her bottom lip she moaned involuntarily. "We are going to need a bed," he said coarsely before bucking his hips against her naked waist to let her feel his erection. "Get dressed before I make one out of pine straw."

He put her clothes against her chest and walked away from her leaving her wanting. Mentally she slapped herself. "You just threw rule number one out of the fucking window didn't you Lucy," she muttered. "Hell you've only been around him for a day and you're already talking like him."

She dressed quickly and headed back to the safety of the shack. She didn't know how they would share a blanket tonight, but she sure as hell wasn't freezing to death and she wasn't going to let him do it either.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Destination Sanctuary

Negan beat her to the fire making the next morning. It wasn't because he desired to be an early riser or anything, but he couldn't lay there with her ass pushed up against his crotch anymore. "What the fuck is wrong with you jackass?" he muttered as he stoked the fire and started a pot of water from the stream to boil. "She is just some random bitch that means nothing. You have plenty of pussy to hit when you get back and you have plenty of smart shit heads to take care of shit at the Sanctuary. Why the fuck are you getting hung up over her?"

He glanced back at the door to the shack they were sharing. She was different though. She mouthed off to him. She wasn't afraid of him. Well she was but she didn't know that he was Negan. Lucy and Coach were just two people trying to survive in a world thrown into chaos.

When he was with her he could just be. He didn't have to threaten or take from her because she gave to him. Selflessly. He suddenly felt like the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. When the monster had been taken in by the blind man, he felt safe, he felt cared for all because the man didn't know that he was a monster in the flesh. Lucy didn't see him as a monster, even though he was without a doubt.

"Stop it you pussy," he muttered before pushing back from the fire and walking over to the door of the shack.

She was still asleep so he pulled the door closed and went in search of something to kill for food. Maybe allowing his cave man tenacity to take back over would kill these sudden feelings he possessed and let his monster return. Moving through the brush quietly he heard a rustle in the leaves that he hoped was an animal, but the guttural groan indicated differently. The walker was female and her dress was hanging off her shoulders with part of her nasty bra exposed. He stood still and whistled softly to get her attention. "Hello sweetheart," he crooned to her as she turned towards him and raised her hands in front of her. "Come on sugar and get you a bite."

He kept Lucille cradled in his arm like a baby until the walker was on top of him and then he swung with all of his might. He chuckled when her head separated from her body and that body slumped to the ground in a pile of rotten flesh. He checked the head to ensure it was no longer alive and stomped on it with his boot for good measure. He chuckled to himself again. "That felt fucking nice," he said out loud, the monster was back.

Lucy woke up to an empty shack and plenty of sunlight. She hadn't slept that good in a long time and she was pleased to say the least. She stretched her stiff muscles and wondered where Coach had wandered off too. "You trust him," she muttered. "You are so stupid."

She opened the door to the shack with her machete in hand and was shocked to see a small fire going with a pot of water boiling. She wasn't sure how long it had been at a boil so she set her mental clock for fifteen minutes until she could remove the pot to cool. There wasn't any fresh game around so maybe Coach had gone hunting. They needed to leave today at some point and get moving again, but she didn't really want too. She was enjoying playing house with this man and the desires he created in her.

A flurry of movement through the trees drew her attention then and she held her machete up ready to face whatever was moving her way. She grinned when he stepped through the brush with two rabbits in his hands and he grinned back at her, but it was the sadistic, tortured smile she had seen the most. "Morning princess," he said with an air kiss. "Care for another bath today? I might could join you this time. Consider the stream a water bed of sorts," he said with a wink.

She glared at him. "What have you been doing? The blood on your boots didn't come from rabbits."

He glanced down and smirked. "Aggression is best relieve in two ways. This current environment allows me to kill things that don't need to be alive and therefore eliminate the aggression I feel."

She scrunched her nose up at him before retrieving the skewer and setting it up alongside the pot over the fire. "I'll cook both and we can bag one for later," she muttered.

She watched him sit down and gut and dress the rabbits before handing them to her to cook. When the skewer was set with both of them she sat back and watched the fire for a minute before she spoke. "What's the second way to relieve aggression?" she asked.

He smirked. "Fucking you until you scream."

She didn't speak again until the rabbits were done.

"What would it take to convince you to come with me?" he asked from beside her.

They had been walking down the highway for about an hour. He now carried her boiling pot and skillet tied to Lucille who was stretched across his shoulders with his arms draped on either end and she was laden with her backpack full of gear. "There is no convincing me Coach."

"But what if I could show you that Negan wasn't as bad of a guy as you think he is?"

"You are brainwashed to think he's great. Won't change my mind."

"You are crazy," he muttered.

"Takes one to know one," she replied and they continued on in silence.

Several hours later they were sitting together just off the road nibbling on the second rabbit and ignoring each other. "We need to find some shelter," she said mostly to herself. "It looks like it's going to rain tonight and we need to be protected."

"I can't believe that a prepared princess like you doesn't tote a fucking tent with her."

She glared at him. "I did."

"So what the fuck happened to it?"

"Had to leave in a hurry and left it behind. Haven't found another one yet."

He glared at her before planting that sadistic smile on his face. "Maybe this place will have a bed."

"Don't count on it," she said with a smirk.

"Finish up and we'll get moving," he said back.

They were hunkered down in a barn listening to the wind and rain outside. The weather was rough and she was glad they had been able to find a semi secure place to stay the night. They were originally going to sleep in the loft, but after Coach climbed the ladder and looked it over he declared it unsafe. They opted to move equipment around in the barn to create a barricade of sorts to protect them while they slept, but it hadn't been needed because sleep did not come.

"I hate bad weather," Lucy muttered drawing her knees closer to her.

"Scared?" he asked from his relaxed position against a bale of hay.

"Well that would be sort of stupid don't you think? I mean, we are in the middle of a damn apocalypse like a comic book never predicted and I'm afraid of bad weather? That's… ludicrous."

"Why? If you're scared then you're scared. It's ok to be scared."

"No it's not ok. There isn't room or time for fear in this world."

"Suite yourself."

A sudden clap of thunder made her jump and squeal quietly like a little girl. She tucked her head into her knees and rocked back and forth gently before glancing up at Coach. He opened his arms to her and she jumped at him. Feeling ridiculously safe in his embrace. "I'm such an idiot," she muttered against his chest.

"I like when you're being an idiot. It means we get to snuggle," he said mockingly.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

She glanced up and could barely make out his face in the darkness of the barn. She pushed herself upwards toward his face and nipped his bottom lip. "I think I will," she whispered before placing her lips against his.

It only took a moment for him to respond by pulling her on top of him to straddle his waist. He slid his hands up her back and down to grab her ass again while their tongues battled each other for dominance. "Fuck," he moaned against her lips as she thrust her hips against his erection.

He held her hips against him to still her movements and kissed her soundly. "No… bed…" he rasped out and she growled before pushing herself off of him.

She lay next to him for a moment slowing down her breathing when she made a rash decision. She wiggled down his body and went to unfasten his belt. "Lucy, no…"

"Shut up Coach. It's not sex."

She unzipped his jeans and was shocked to find him bare underneath. If she had known his cock wasn't covered by underwear she might have reacted sooner. "Drawers are overrated," he muttered before thrusting against her hand.

She slipped her hand up and down the length of his shaft for several strokes before she slipped the head of his erection into her mouth. She was awkward and he could tell she had never really given a blow job before but the sweet way she handled his dick pleased him like no one else ever had. She took him completely into her mouth and he felt the head of his dick hit the back of her throat. He almost blew his load then because he was so aroused by her inexperience. She used her hand to fondle his sack and when she drew her hand up his length while she pulled tautly on his head he lost control. "Lucy," he rasped out. "I'm going to come."

"Then do it," she murmured around the head of his dick and he growled at the pleasure the vibrations created.

He thrust into her mouth and came down her throat. He was impressed at how well she handled it and moaned with appreciation when she sucked him dry and licked him clean. "You haven't done that much, have you?"

He couldn't see her face but he figured she was blushing. "N… no… was it bad?"

He laughed. "Princess that was the best fucking blow job I have ever had in my life."

He tucked himself away and grinned when she snuggle up next to him and promptly fell asleep.

"So, I've been thinking," she said from a few steps behind him.

"About?"

"Going back with you. To the Sanctuary I mean."

"Really? And what changed your mind princess?"

"Well I haven't changed it per se, but… I don't want to be separated from you."

"I guess that's reasonable," he said sarcastically. "Doesn't that destroy rule number one though? You have to put trust in me in order to go back with me."

"I do trust you," she said quietly. "I need a promise though. A guarantee if you will."

"Anything princess," he said stopping to let her catch up.

"When I am done, if I am ever done, I walk away free and clear. Safety guaranteed."

He stared at her and she stretched out her hand. "It's the only way I'll go back with you."

He took her hand and shook it firmly. "On my honor then," he said with a grin before pulling her to him and kissing her soundly.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Sharing History

"What did you do before the world went shit Lucy?" Coach asked, holding her hand in the darkness.

They had found a barn inside of a fenced paddock area that must have been a horse farm at one time. The tack room had been easy to fortify and they were spending the night on the hard dirt floor. It wasn't the worst place either one of them had slept and they didn't complain.

She chuckled and pushed some hay around trying to make the ground a little softer. "I almost don't want to tell you, but then that would mean that I didn't really trust you Coach."

"But we both know you trust me, so what did you do?"

She sighed. "I was a family nurse practitioner. I worked at Emory University in the ER with several other NP's. I was there when I saw the first one come back to life."

"Why wouldn't you want to tell me something like that? Don't you know how valuable you are?"

She groaned into the darkness. "That's why I don't tell people Coach. Someone would use me for my skills and I won't be held captive just because I can stitch someone up or set a broken bone."

He nodded into the darkness. "I can understand that. You have to be as scared of people as you do the walkers."

"More scared in some cases," she said soundly.

"What happened? When you saw the first one turn?" he whispered.

She shifted against him in the darkness before she spoke again. "I was… I don't know 14 or 15 hours into my 24 hour shift when a bad wreck came in with folks on three ambulances. It was an eighteen wheeler accident on the highway with a small car and a pickup truck. Eight victims total and they were all a mess. The pickup driver was DOA but the EMT's were still working on him and I didn't want to call it just yet so I helped. We pumped him full of fluid and drugs but after twenty minutes I had to pronounce him and give an official time of death."

She yawned loudly and stretched. "We tagged him and I had to move on to the next victim before I was pulled to a helicopter patient who needed to be stabilized before he could have surgery for a ruptured appendix. It was six hours later before I was finally able to get back to him and deal with the death certificate and stuff. I was in the room with two nurses filling out paperwork and waiting on the next of kin when he started growling. The staff had him cleaned up and had finished the postmortem care so I thought maybe it was trapped gas or something. Dead bodies make all kinds of weird noises as the air escapes."

"Tell me about it, I've witnessed some pretty weird noises coming from those fuckers. It's mostly growling though."

She punched his shoulder and he laughed. "Shut up," she said before snuggling into his side. "Before the virus dead bodies made noises and they had muscle jerks and reactions too. It wasn't anything new but I have to admit it scared the shit out of me the first couple of times it happened. I was standing next to the body when one of the nurses yelped. He was moving. His hands were reaching from beneath the white sheet for the nurse who was standing next to his head."

She shuddered. "It's kind of blurry after that, but I remember him trying to bite the nurse and we closed him in the room. A security guard stood outside the door and the medical chief tried to examine him through the glass. He wanted to open the door to get a better look but the guard stopped him."

"What did the guard do to stop him?"

"He told him the guy was dead and he knew it for certain because he wasn't fogging up the glass of the room door when he was pressed against it trying to get out."

"Smart security guard."

"It was several more hours before we alerted the CDC that there was some weird stuff going on at the hospital. The CDC didn't come to us though, they sent the military and all of a sudden we had to handcuff possible deaths to the bed and place duct tape over their mouths. We kept getting these crazy memos about bacteria that reanimated dead tissue in humans and then it was a virus that had to be contained. When I finally left the war zone everything had gone to hell and it was easy for me to just walk away."

"How… how many did you watch turn?" he asked softly.

"Thousands," she whispered into the darkness. "The military, they um… were trying to keep it contained. They killed everyone who was in the hospital but they didn't kill them properly so they all came back. I realized after several days that you had to sever the brain stem in order to stop the rampage. It was only a month or so before the area around Emory was overrun and then we got word that it had spread worldwide. Nowhere was safe."

"There still isn't really anywhere…" he said before his voice faded off.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What did you do before the world ended?"

He chuckled. "You don't want to know my sob story."

"Oh but I do. Come on then, tell me."

"I was army for fifteen years. Earned my teaching degree, while I was in the core because I didn't know what else to do and I taught world history at a high school in Savannah. I coached softball and baseball and spent my weekends mowing the lawn and grilling out with my wife and beer drinking buddies."

He was silent for several minutes and she didn't push him to talk anymore. He was hollow sounding when he spoke about the past and she was afraid to drag too much from him. "She was the first," he whispered. "My wife was the first I saw turn. She had cancer. Had been on hospice at home for weeks. The hospice nurse told me later that they had been getting memos to handcuff their patients to the bed just in case the virus that reanimated tissue was spreading. Would have been fucking nice to know before I had to bash my wife's head in with a table lamp."

"Have you been with Negan from the beginning?" she asked into the darkness and felt him stiffen.

"Yeah. I've always been Negan," he muttered, but she didn't catch his slip.

Lucy yawned again into the darkness. "Get some sleep Lucy," he murmured against her ear. "We've got a long walk ahead of us."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Meeting Negan

The road to the Sanctuary loomed ahead of them and the building rose out of the ground looking ominous. Lucy stared cautiously at the building and didn't advance down the road. "Are we just going to wait here for someone to drive up?" Coach asked her with disdain.

"Don't push this Coach. I'm… nervous about this whole thing. What if Negan doesn't want me to stay? Or what if he wants me for himself? I've heard things and I'm… I'm not sure how to handle this situation."

"Damn it Lucy he is not going to force you to accept him and he isn't going to kill you if you don't accept him. He'll be jealous as hell that you are with me, but he'll understand."

"You are not describing the Negan that I have heard about Coach."

"Because the rumors aren't fucking true!" he yelled at her. "Damn it woman, you agreed to give this a chance!"

"And you promised I could change my mind!" she yelled back at him.

All of their noise drew a biter that Coach quickly dispatched, slinging blood everywhere in the process. He kept his back to Lucy when he spoke next. "What do you want me to do Lucy? Huh? What will convince you to come inside with me… to stay with me?"

Lucy stared at the gray building and frowned. "I want to meet him," she said strongly. "I want to meet him out here on this turf so that if he doesn't approve I can just walk away. I want it to be you, me and him, otherwise I'm not going."

Coach flipped around and grinned at her. "Done," he said softly.

"That easy huh? You really think you can walk into that building and convince Negan to come out here to meet me by himself? You don't think he'll be afraid either you or I would kill him and take what he has built here?"

He smirked at her. "No Lucy, I sure as hell don't think he'll be afraid. Not one fucking little bit. Give me twenty minutes and I'll be back with him and then you and I can finally have some down time."

"You mean we'll have a bed," she said with a laugh.

"Damn, fucking right," he said with a cheeky grin.

Negan approached the front gates of the Sanctuary with Lucille slung over his shoulder and a wicked grin on his face. "Little pigs, little pigs, please let me in," he shouted to the top of the gates.

"Well holy fucking shit," came a voice. "I guess we can bring the search parties back in because you found us yourself."

"Open the damn gate Arrat. I've got something to take care of before I can officially be home."

"Is Lucille thirsty already?" the woman asked him while pulling the gate back for him to enter.

"No, but my dick is and I have to take care of something before he can get the attention that he so rightly deserves."

She rolled her eyes. "You know you want me to fuck you," he said with a smirk.

"And you know that you have a harem upstairs that will take care of whatever you want them to do. I am not one of those women."

"Neither is the one I'm after," he said. "I need a favor. When I come back shortly I'll have a woman with me and I need you to call me Coach."

"Why?"

"She doesn't know who I am. She's scared of Negan and I don't want her to be afraid of me, yet," he added.

Arrat stared at him perplexed. "You like her," she said cautiously.

"Yeah, I suppose I do."

"So, who does she think you are?"

"A loyal follower of the house of Negan. Enough with the questions. Where is Eugene and Dwight?"

Negan entered the pit where Dwight and Eugene were watching lower level workers wrangle walkers. They were staking them to the fence and surrounding area to keep it safe. He was pleased they had continued the work while he was gone. Soon there would be enough walkers that he could line the entire entry way to his compound. "Hot damn," Dwight muttered. "Did Simon find you?"

"Hell no," Negan said with a grin. "I got back by my own fucking self, Big D with a little help from a young lady that I plan on fucking into the mattress tonight."

"Where is she? Can she be trusted?" Eugene asked a little panicked.

"There's my genius!" he snickered. "Calm the fuck down Brainiac. I… um… I need the two of you to help me out."

"Anything boss," Dwight said, standing at attention.

"See, she's… special. This young lady I've brought back with me. She's… special to me."

They both nodded at him and waited silently for him to continue.

"The problem is she's scared of Negan," he said with a frown that both men mirrored. "She doesn't know that I'm Negan. She didn't ask and I didn't tell."

"What do you need us for?" Eugene asked, not understanding what was being said.

"Well genius, I need you to be Negan."

"I am Negan," Eugene replied automatically.

"Yes you are brain fuck, but I need you to be Negan for real. I'm going to become Eugene, her knight in shining armor until she's so deep in that she can't leave and then I'll tell her the truth."

"What do you need from me?" Dwight asked.

"Spread the word. I'm still in charge but everyone is to refer to Eugene as Negan and me as Coach until I say different. I'm planning to keep her Big D and I know that you can understand that plan."

Dwight nodded his agreement.

"Now… Negan…" Coach said to Eugene sarcastically. "I'm going to take you to meet my new friend and I need you to be polite to her. Don't fuck up or I'll have to kill you no matter how valuable you are to me."

Eugene nodded at him. "Yes sir… Coach."

Negan smiled. "Brilliant. Fucking brilliant."

True to his word twenty minutes after he left Coach was making his way down the road with a man trailing behind him. She couldn't see him well but she stood and readied herself for their approach. "Lucy," Coach said quietly. "I told him you would be hospitable. Don't reach for your damn weapon ok. I left my bat back at the gate so I'm unarmed. If you make a wrong fucking move he will shoot me then you. Don't do that… please?" he added.

She nodded as the other man approached. Negan was not what she expected. He was heavy set with a dingy brown mullet and a fat round face. "I'm Negan," he said matter of fact like.

"This is Lucy," Coach said with a nod in her direction. "She's with me. She helped me get back."

"Much obliged," the mullet replied. "Coach… Eugene… he's one of my best. I… couldn't do without him really."

She nodded. "I want a promise from you Negan, before I go anywhere with the two of you."

"I'll try little lady," the mullet said crossing his arms over his chest. "What can I do you for?"

She glanced at Coach. "If I want out… when I want out… I can leave, no questions, no harm, and no foul."

The mullet glanced at Coach and she noticed him give a subtle nod of his head. "Sure thing. When you want to go you can go, you have my word."

She knew it was too easy. Something wasn't right, but she shook off the feelings and moved to take Coach's hand. "Then lead the way," she said.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Home Sweet Home

Lucy took in as much of the compound as she could as she allowed Coach to pull her along through the crowded area. She noticed the caged area full of biters on stakes and tied to the ground. "What's with the biters?" she mumbled from behind him.

"Just part of the protection that Negan provides," he replied without looking back at her. "Stop asking questions before you piss him off. I'll explain more when we're alone."

Lucy forced herself to be quiet as she followed Coach but there was so much to see and so much to understand. There seemed to be a workhouse of sorts filled with necessities and a group of raised flower beds that were full of vegetables and fruit plants. "It's very well thought out and maintained," she whispered from behind him again.

"It's well controlled too. That's why we have lasted as long as we have. Negan's not a bad guy but he wants to keep people safe and that means making some enemies."

She frowned. "With medieval torture?" she asked.

He stopped and turned to her. "What?"

"That guys face has been burned," she said nodding towards Dwight. "The scar tissue is still healing in places so it wasn't that long ago. Since it's only in one place I can only assume that it was done on purpose with a hot iron or hot poker of some sort. It's a form of torture that was used to punish people times long past."

"How in the hell do you know that?" Coach asked, his voice suddenly full of anger.

She stepped back from him, but he kept ahold of her hand. "I… um… treated a group of refugees. They had similar burns on the side of their faces and some on their testicles. It depended on what the crime was as to where the burn was placed."

He watched her stoically for a moment. "You're kind of a know-it-all, were you aware?"

"Quiz bowl champion in high school four years straight Coach."

He smirked at her, his face softening again. "I like my women brilliant," he said before brushing her lips with a kiss. "Now, let me show you our new home."

He led her down a series of hallways. "I'll give you directions when we head out next time," he said before bringing her hand to his lips. "But for now, I'm sure you want a… shower," he said shower in a whisper that sent shivers down her spine.

"A… a shower? Like a real shower with hot water?"

He grinned. "See I know the way to a woman's heart. Hot water and soap does so much."

"Lead on Prince Charming," she said with a grin of her own that made his dick twitch in his pants.

The room was simple but perfect for their needs. There was a small window with a shelf beneath it that contained books, puzzles, and board games. The small kitchen had a fridge, stove top, and toaster oven with a small Formica covered table and two chairs. The bed was a queen size covered with a simple white quilt and several pillows. She opened a door that lead to an on suite bathroom with a walk in shower, toilet, and sink. It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.

"Home sweet home," he murmured from behind her while running his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. "And look… a bed," he said with a chuckle.

She giggled. "I'm more excited about the shower."

"Clean up then. Take your time. There are towels in that cabinet above the toilet. The soap is all the same and it smells like lavender but I guess it could be worse."

She turned around and pressed her face to his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. "What's that for?" he asked stunned at her display of affection.

"I'm… I'm just grateful. Grateful for you and for the trust I have in you. I… I think…," she paused and bit her lip.

"Hey," he said gently raising her chin to look at him. "No thinking, just shower and then I'm going to make you scream my name Lucy."

"So cocky," she said with a nervous giggle.

"You have no idea," he replied.

The shower was amazing. The water was hot and the soap smelled divine. She washed her hair three or four times before she finally felt clean. She used a new razor to shave under her arms and her legs. She attempted to trim her mound but gave up after a few minutes. It was going to take more than a basic razor to get that back under control. She had always kept it neat and trim, but when the world came to an end having neat pubic hair had stopped being a priority.

She towel dried her hair and wiped the steam off the mirror. She frowned at herself. She hadn't seen her reflection in a long time and she looked sad. Hollow. "He wants you Lucy. He wants to be with you. He could have left you at any time, but he stayed. Don't second guess his feelings."

She stared at her body and was suddenly self-conscious. Even though she had thinned without proper nutrition, she wasn't skinny. She had a small pudge around her middle and spots of cellulite on her thighs and buttocks. Her breasts weren't huge and had drooped a little with age. "Not much to look at," she sighed into the mirror. "Of course you never have been," she muttered.

Suddenly she wanted to throw her clothes back on and leave the compound. What in the hell was she thinking? She couldn't be with Coach! He was going to take one look at her naked form and laugh at her! She wondered if he was in the room. Her clothes weren't on the bathroom floor where she had left them and she wondered if he had taken them somewhere.

Maybe there was something in the room she could throw on before she escaped. "You are such a fool," she muttered to the mirror. "Why would he want someone like you?"

She eased the door open hoping that the room would be unoccupied but that was not the case. Coach was stretched out on the queen sized bed in a pair of pajama pants and a blue t-shirt reading a book. "Hi," he said softly. "Feel better?"

He noticed she was uneasy and that she stepped back when he sat up on the bed. "What's wrong Lucy?" he asked.

She stared at the floor and bit her lower lip. "I… I… you… you aren't going to like what you see," she blurted out.

He stared at her incredulously. "What?"

"Coach… I'm fat and wrinkled and my boobs are saggy. I'm not some beautiful woman and now that I'm clean the dirt and grime can't hide that fact anymore."

He took a step towards her and she moved back again. "No… I can't… I can't handle the rejection. I… I just need to go before…"

He was on her with two strides and his mouth was pressed against hers. He fisted his hands in her hair and tilted her head up to meet his. He kissed her passionately, thrusting his tongue into her mouth to mate with hers. When they were both breathless he broke away from her and wrapped her in his arms. "You are fucking amazing Lucy. You are beautiful and no you don't have the body of some twenty year old tramp, but who wants that anyway."

He tugged the edge of the towel free from her hand and let it drop to her feet before stepping back to look at her. She couldn't meet his gaze as he took in her body. She wanted to cover her imperfections, but if was going to be repulsed she wanted it to happen now. "Beautiful," he murmured before pulling her naked body against him.

He kissed her again while he ran his fingers down her back and gripped her ass. He backed her to the bed and pushed her down before covering her body with his. The heaviness and warmth of his body pressed against hers was heavenly. She didn't think as he kissed down her chin and began to suck at her neck leaving hot kisses along her collar bone.

"Coach," she murmured as her hands pulled at his shirt.

He helped her pull his t-shirt off and she groaned as his skin brushed solidly against hers. He kissed her again before moving down her chest and taking one erect nipple into his mouth. She cried out as he suckled at her breast and moved her hips against him feeling his erection push against her thigh.

He continued to lick and suck at each breast as she moaned and wiggled beneath him. He slid a finger along her slit and was pleased at the moisture he found there already. "Are you wet for me Lucy?" he asked huskily.

She couldn't make a real sentence so she just moaned as he slipped a finger in-between her lips and stroked her inside. "Fuck Lucy," he murmured as he thrust his fingers in and out of her wet core. "What do you need Lucy?" he asked.

She moaned in answer and he slowed down his actions causing her to whimper. "Tell me what you need Lucy. Tell me what you want."

"To… come," she rushed out as she bucked her hips against his hand.

He grinned at her before biting down on one of her nipples and rubbing her clit with his thumb. He continued to suckle and finger fuck her until she clamped her thighs around his hand and moaned out his name. "Coach," she said breathlessly. "Oh my God," she moaned.

He continued to finger fuck her until the spasms subsided and then he moved in between her knees. She pushed up on her elbows, but he pushed her back down. "I need to taste you Lucy. You are so wet, like a juicy pear. I just need to lick the juices off."

She felt more dampness between her legs at his words and threw her head back as he licked up her slit. "Fuck," she whispered before thrusting her hips up to meet his tongue.

"Lucy," he whispered against her core. "Fucking hell you taste amazing. Sweet and savory," he murmured.

He flicked his tongue across her clit while he thrust not one but two fingers into her dripping core. "Coach," she moaned out. "Oh my God! I'm going to come again!"

"Come on then baby," he murmured against her clit and she instantly was thrown into an orgasm from the vibrations of his voice on her sensitive nub. She thrust her hips towards his face as she fisted her hands in his hair to hold him between her legs. When she was sated he moved up the bed and kissed her softly.

"You can taste yourself later," he murmured. "But right now I need to be inside you."

He stood from the bed and dropped his pants allowing his large erection to spring free. She glanced at his penis and was both excited and afraid. She was not all that experienced and he was much larger that her previous partner. "Coach," she whispered.

"Lucy," he whispered back as he joined her on the bed and covered her with his body again. "It's been down your throat," he said kissing her neck and collar again. "If your throat can take it then your pussy sure as hell can."

He licked her collar bone before leaning back on his knees. She adjusted her hips and let her legs open freely. She watched him grip his shaft and line the head of his dick up with her opening before he slowly pushed inside of her. He groaned as her walls both relaxed and tightened at his invasion. "Fuck Lucy," he groaned out, "you are so fucking tight."

She moaned under him and thrust her hips up until he was completely sheathed in her warmth. "Oh fuck," he said. "Oh fuck."

"Fuck me," she whispered from beneath him, before thrusting her hips up to him. "You said you would fuck me into the mattress Coach. You're balls deep inside of me, so fuck me!"

If it were possible he grew harder at her dirty language and suddenly couldn't stop himself from rutting into her like an animal. He remained kneeling in-between her legs while he gripped her hips and thrust rapid and hard into her pussy. "Please… Coach," she moaned from beneath him and his eyes fluttered to hers.

He continued to move within her as he spoke. "Call me Negan," he said quietly.

She was so aroused she didn't even question the command. "Please Negan, please," she whimpered. "I'm so close."

"So greedy Lucy," he growled as he moved a hand between them and flicked her clit. "You get three orgasms and I just get one."

"Sounds fair," she whimpered as she thrust back to meet him.

She moved her own hand in between them and fingered her clit. "Oh fuck," he said continuing to thrust into her. "That is so fucking hot Lucy."

She increased her motions until he felt her clasp tightly around him. She cried out his name, his real name as she came apart beneath him. Hearing Negan fall from her lips was all he needed to fill her with his seed and for a brief moment he hoped he knocked her up so she couldn't leave him. He collapsed on top of her with his dick still inside of her and he was loathe to remove himself from her tight hole. "Fuck Lucy," he sighed.

"I believe that's exactly what you just did," she giggled running her hands along his shoulders and upper back.

He reluctantly removed his softening member from her warmth and pulled her to cuddle into his side. "Lucy?"

"Coach, or should I say, Negan?"

He chuckled. "I'm keeping you."

"For now," she replied.

He pulled the cover over their naked bodies and they both promptly fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 The Threat and The Promise

It was dark outside when Lucy woke up. She hadn't kept up with time since she had been on her own and she wasn't really worried about it now. She stretched and felt a twinge of pain between her legs which caused her to smile. Coach shifted slightly next to her and she planted a soft kiss on his shoulder before she eased out of bed. She opened a couple of different drawers until she found a pair of loose fitting shorts and a t-shirt. "Drawers are overrated," she said softly with a smile at the still sleeping Coach before she made her way to the shower.

She was toweling off when the bathroom door eased open and a very handsome and very naked Coach walked in the door. "I need to piss," he said kissing her shoulder. "It won't bother me if you stay but I at least wanted you to have the chance to leave."

She giggled. "Thanks for that, I'll get dressed in the bedroom."

"Don't bother," he said with a smirk. "I'm just going to have to take them off of you again."

"Maybe I want you to work for it a little bit. The last time was too easy with just a towel to pull off."

He grinned at her before she exited the bathroom and closed the door. She pulled the shorts and t-shirt on in the dim lamp light of the room and was looking at the books on the shelf when he came back from the bathroom. He moved behind her and poked her in the back with his erection.

She sighed into his kisses and whimpered when he pushed his hands beneath her t-shirt to rub her breasts and pinch her nipples. "Fucking perfect," he murmured before nipping at her ear lobe.

He kept her back pressed against his front with his dick rubbing against her while he pushed one of his hands into her shorts. He slipped past the soft curls that covered her slit and ran his finger along the damp line. He moved his hand to cup her mound and slowly worked a finger into the moisture that was developing between her legs. The pressure of his palm brushed against her clit and she let out a long moan. "Hot damn," he whispered against her ear.

He moved his finger back and forth in slow easy thrusts and massaged a breast with his other hand. He pulled her t-shirt over her head and walked her to the small table. He removed his hands from the dampness of her pussy and encouraged her to bend over the table. The coolness of the formica was erotic against her bare skin. "I'm sure you were a good girl who always kept her knees together," he said from behind her, "but right now I want you to spread your legs."

She was so aroused at his touch that she obeyed without question. He pushed the head of his dick into her and groaned as he sunk inside of her. He held her still for a moment before he spoke. "Call me Negan Lucy," he murmured before he began to move in and out of her roughly.

Twenty minutes later they were lying on the bed cuddled beneath the quilt and Coach was planting gentle kisses along her temple and cheek. "I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked. "That was rougher than I had intended it to be but damn woman you are so fucking hot I can't help myself."

"You didn't hurt me Coach. I think I was so turned on that there was no way you could have hurt me if you tried. I enjoyed it hard and fast," she said shyly.

"It's almost three in the morning," he said glancing at a clock on the wall. "Let's get back to sleep."

She snuggeld in next to him and planted a quick kiss on his lips before he spoke again. "I have some things to take care of in the morning Lucy. So I'll be gone for a little while, but I'll come back and get you after lunch and take you on a tour of the place."

"Okay," she murmured with a yawn. She briefly thought about asking why he wanted to be called Negan during sex, but the thought left as she slipped into sleep.

She woke up several hours later and stretched suddenly realizing she was alone in bed. "Don't panic," she said outloud dragging her hands down her face. "He said he had things to take care of this morning and he would take you on a tour around lunch."

She took a quick shower and explored the little room when she felt clean. She was elated to find eggs in the fridge and heated up a small frying pan that she found to cook the head sunny side up and runny. The egg was delicious and she was beyond excited to enjoy such a delicacy.

When she was done, she washed her plate and pan before looking over the books on the little shelf. None of them really looked appealing, but a 1000 piece puzzle caught her interest. She had loved puzzles as a little girl and she thought this might just pass some time while she waited on Coach to come back.

He found her a couple of hours later hunched over the little table with the puzzle pieces spread out everywhere. He stood in the doorway for a moment and watched her. She was dressed in a long blue t-shirt that was way too big for her and he questioned whether or not she had anything on underneath. "Hello beautiful," he said making her jump.

"Coach!" she yelled clutching a puzzle piece in her hand. "I dind't hear you come in, you are sneaky."

"Well being quiet is a virtue in this world Lucy."

"What have you been doing? I woke up and you were gone."

"I have responsibilities around here that went undone over the last several days while we've been making our way back. I had to make sure things were taken care of so that Negan doesn't get pissed at me."

She frowned at him. "I still don't understand why you want to stay in a place run by a dictator."  
"Well, it's safe. But you met him, what do you think of him?"

She giggled. "There is no way in hell I could be afraid of that man. Sympathetic sure, but not afraid. I could probably diagnosis him with some sort of syndrome if I assessed him well enough."

He pulled her up from the table and kissed her soundly running his hands beneath her t-shirt. He growled at her nudity beneath. "Damn it woman," he said snarkily. "You took my no drawers comment to heart didn't you?"

"Well it's not like I have any here but the pair or two that are in my back pack. Those have been washed properly and are now hanging up in the bathroom drying."

"Well shit, here I was hoping you were making access to that sweet pussy of yours easy for me," he whispered against her mouth.

"Well," she said softly. "It is easily accessed."

"Damn right," he replied before pushing her back on the bed.

Coach took her down to a room full of people working on all different types of things. Some were laundering clothes, grinding wheat and corn, and others were washing fruits and vegetables before dividing them into equal piles. She watched in fascination as everyone worked so well together and no one seemed to be afraid. She was distracted by a woman who was ironing clothes that she pulled off a clothes line and completely missed Negan approaching through the crowd.

"Settled in ok…. Eugene?" he asked without making eye contact.

Coach glared at him before he spoke. "Yes… Negan, in fact we have settled in just fine. How have things been in my absence? I didn't speak with you about it yesterday."

"You sound… dignified," Negan replied confused. "And you didn't say fuck once in that statement. Ne… I mean… Eugene are you feeling well?"

Coach patted Negan on the shoulder. "I feel right as fucking rain… Negan."

"I need… to um… show you something, without your lady friend," Negan said.

Coach nodded. "Right, um, Thomas!"

A lanky, bald man moved through the crowd towards them. "Thomas," Coach said. "This is Lucy and she is very fucking special to me, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Thomas said hoarsely.

"I need you to watch over her for a few minutes while I take care of some… business."

"Yes sir," Thomas said quickly.

Coach turned to face her. "Lucy stick with Thomas and you'll be fine. I'll be back as quick as I can and we'll go look at the gardens."

He gave her a quick kiss and followed Negan out of the large space. "Ms.?" Thomas said. "Can I ge… get you something to drink?"

She watched him carefully and noticed that everyone in the room was staring at her. "No, thank you Thomas. Everyone looks so busy, is there something I can help out with?"

"Oh… no, no ma'am. His ladies don't help. They are strictly here to please him. I'll… I'll be happy to get you anything you need."

"His ladies? Thomas, I think there's been a mistake. Who exactly are you talking about?"

"Thomas!" a female voice shouted. "Why don't you show Lucy where we sort the canned goods we find?"

The woman approached them carefully. "I'm Arrat, we haven't met officially."

"Well, hello then," Lucy said cautiously.

"Come on Thomas, I'll walk with the two of you. I know there is a lot to take in around here Lucy, but you'll get the hang of it in time."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm not sure how long I'll be here Arrat."

Arrat laughed. "Once you enter the compound you only leave to become one of those dicks on in the bull pen."

"A walker?"

Arrat nodded. "Damn straight girl. I hope he doesn't get tired of you too soon. You're kind of a novelty right now, but maybe you are gonna be able to keep his attention for a little while."

"Look, I don't know you but I have a guarantee from both Coach and Negan himself that if I want to walk away I can without problem."

Arrat nodded. "Sure you do Lucy. Sure you do. Like I said just hope he doesn't get tired of you too soon. Then you'll lose your plush surroundings and be down in the dirt with the rest of us."

Lucy stopped walking and glared at the woman. Thomas nervously shifted from foot to foot sensing the tension in the air. "Look, Arrat, let's be clear. I am here because I chose to come with Coach and when I choose to leave I will and nothing will stop me. Not you. Not Negan. And not any veiled threat you can throw at me. I took care of myself and dealt with biters for over a year and you don't scare me in the least."

Arrat laughed again. It was a hollow, haunting sound. "Look princess," she said meancingly. "None of what I have to say is a threat. It's a promise. And I don't break promises. Take her to the ponds Thomas. Just keep your mouth shut. Her highness doesn't need to know anything about what goes on around here. He'll tell her what she needs to know."

Lucy watched her leave. Suddenly she had a strong desire to grab her pack and head out the front gates. She'd have to mention this interaction to Coach.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Who's the Mullet?

Lucy stood outside the doorway to the building in which and Coach were currently living. The compound had made her uneasy from the first time he mentioned it, but now she was dreaming about getting away from here. She stayed in the apartment, if you could call it that, a lot because no one in the compound would talk to her. She knew they were hiding something, but she hadn't been able to figure out just what it was they kept from her.

She leaned against the door frame and watched groups come and go with baskets of produce and eggs. Everyone had a job here, except her. She had offered in the two weeks she had been there to take on various jobs, but she always got the same answer that 'his women don't work'. But no one would elaborate as to what that meant. She had asked Coach, or Eugene as she attempting to call him now, about the strange behavior but he never gave her a solid answer.

She had mentioned what Arrat had said when Coach left her with Thomas that day, but he had shrugged it off. "There are things that you aren't ready to learn yet Lucy," he had said pulling her into a hug. "I mean, did you think you were just going to fucking walk in here and learn all our fucking secrets? I trust you, but the rest of these fuckers, they have to get to know you first. Decide on their own if they trust you. Don't worry about them, alright? Negan trusts you and that's all that matters."

He had pulled her into the shower with him then and used his fingers to bring her to a quick orgasm before they went to bed and really made love. She kept trying to convince herself that making love was what they were doing. She wasn't just fucking some stranger. She was making love to someone who was special to her. But the harder she worked to convince herself the more her brain told her she was overlooking something about him.

"I… I brought you… you two some… um… apples," a wavering voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She made eye contact with Thomas who had shown her around before. He was really the only one who talked to her. "Thank you Thomas. Did you pick these?"

He nodded. "Thomas, we can't take your apples. You worked hard to get them."

"But… I… I… picked them fo… for you Lucy. Ne… Coach… he said… he said you like ap… apples."

Lucy smiled at him softly. "I do like apples Thomas. But I can't take them from you. You might need them or… your leader… Negan, he might not like that you are giving them to me. I'm still a stranger to him."

Thomas smiled, but shook his head. "Ne… Negan won't mind. He… he wants you to be happy… here."

"Thank you Thomas. Do you have work to do or would you like to play a card game with me? I got so used to being alone and now that I've gotten used to having Coach around I feel kind of out of place when I'm by myself."

"Ma… maybe later… Lu… Lucy. I… I need to be sure it's… o… okay with Coach."

Lucy nodded. "I understand Thomas. Thanks again for the apples."

She watched him smile and walk away from her. The loneliness she felt was new and raw and she didn't like it one bit. She decided she was going to bend the rules a little bit and go for a walk. Maybe if Negan saw it as defiance he would ask her to leave and she wouldn't have to fight for a choice anymore.

It was getting close to lunch time and the temperature was rising so most of the compounds occupants had taken shelter in the various buildings. Heat stroke was a very real possibility even in the cold months around here and no one really took chances. She walked cautiously keeping her eyes open for movement. She knew she was doing something that would get her in trouble with Coach, but she really didn't care. The apartment was stifling and she had to get out. She had been there two weeks, surely she could be trusted a little more, right?

She knew Negan didn't see it that way, but she was taking her chances. She heard voices ahead of her and was turning around to head the other way when she heard her name mentioned. "Did she like the apples?" she heard the guy with the scarred face say.

"Sh… she didn't want to ta… take them at first. She… she asked me to play cards wi… with her. She's lonely," she heard Thomas reply.

"He won't like that one bit," the scar face replied. "What did you tell her?"

"Tha… that I nee… need to ask Negan first."

"Did you call him Negan?" scar face said in a hissing voice that was obviously filled with anger.

"N… No, Dwight."

"Good, we have to be careful. At least until he's ready to tell her the truth."

She heard scar face sigh and Thomas coughed. "Sh… she's lo… lonely," Thomas said. "Sh… she nee… needs a friend."

"I'll ask him ok. I don't know if he'll care or not but I'm not taking any chances."

"Wh… where is he?"

"His place. Some of the wives were getting pissy because he hasn't been paying them attention," Dwight said with a cough. "Not a problem I would wish on my worst enemy."

"Is… is h… he going to te… tell her?"

Dwight laughed. "Not now. Don't know if he will or not eventually, but I think he's trying to get her in so deep she can't leave when she finds out who he really is."

Tears filled Lucy's eyes as she sprinted back to their little apartment. She made it inside and to the little bathroom before she vomited in the toilet. She had the wherewithal to close and lock the bathroom door before she lay down on the cool tile of the bathroom floor. "Rule number one," she murmured against the tile. "Do not trust anyone. Of all the rules this one is the most important."

She silently sobbed into the rug that was on the floor for at least ten minutes before she resolved to find out the truth. She knew where she needed to start, but she had to find him first. She used a rag to wipe her face and pulled her hair back in a thick bun. She grabbed her machete and her back pack before heading out the door. She tucked the back pack behind a blue water barrel along her route to Negan… no she corrected herself mentally… she was going to find the mullet. The man with the mullet was the answer to her questions.

He had to be in front of the pit where they kept the biters. He was always out there looking them over and thinking who knows what about them. Maybe he was a necrophiliac and he got off on watching the biters. He sure as hell wasn't Negan and she wasn't afraid of him. She had to hide twice on her route to the pit because of people wandering around, but she was determined and thought it was funny how determination eliminated fear.

He was standing next to the fence with his arms hanging limp by his side. He was watching the biters and humming quietly to himself. He was alone as far as she could tell, but she stayed hidden under a stair well for several minutes watching him to be sure. She approached him from behind and grabbed his hair wrapping it twice around her hand while at the same moment pressing her machete to his throat. "Where is he?" she whispered.

"Who?" he responded, fear evident in his voice.

"Negan," she whispered.

"I… I'm Negan."

"The fuck you are," she growled out. "Take me to him, now."

She pressed the machete against his throat and pricked the skin enough to draw blood. "Walk or die and I'll find him myself," she growled again.

"You… you aren't going to like what we find."

"I'm sure I won't mullet, but I need the truth. Now walk!"

"Yes ma'am," he said moving up the ramp with the machete still pressed to his throat.

"He intends to keep you," the mullet said softly. "You hold value and he doesn't want to let you go."

"Shut the fuck up."

"It's the same with me," he continued. "He saw my potential and he kept me. Made it to where I couldn't leave."

"I said shut up!" she growled out.

"I'm just trying to warn you. You could stop this nonsense now. Walk away and we forget this happened. Keep living in ignorance. It's really the best way Lucy."

She yanked hard on his hair until his neck was pressed against her shoulder and her machete was digging into his collar bone. "There is nothing he can do that would keep me here. That's the thing about being alone for so long… he holds no threat against me mullet."

"Eugene."

"What?"

"My… my name is Eugene."

His admission startled her and she had to fight to keep her grip on his hair. "Stop it Lucy," she mentally chastised herself. "Just because his name is Eugene means nothing."

He led her up a set of narrow steps to what was obviously a set of offices when the compound had existed before the biters took over. Eugene eased the door open and walked into a room that was filled with beautiful furniture and houseplants. "Eugene?" a female voice said from in front of them. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"He brought a guest," Lucy said turning them to the side so she could view the room in full. "You could say it was under duress," she said before she pushed him further into the room.

She glanced around the room at twelve women in various stages of undress. They all wore lingerie in different colors, but some were more clothed than others. She swallowed hard. "Where is he?" she asked.

"Who?" a blond woman replied with disdain.

"Negan. Where is he?"

The blond smirked at her. "Eugene who in the hell is this broad?"

"Pamela, this is Lucy," Eugene said very matter of fact and a series of gasps went around the room.

"You… you're Lucy?" the blond named Pamela asked. "What the fuck does he see in you?"

"Pamela," a red headed woman said, "be careful. You know she's special."

"Why?" the blond said. "What the hell has she done or got that makes her so fucking special that he spends all his time with her? I mean look at her Joyce! She's old and worn down! He has been ignoring us for her? I suddenly feel incredibly unappreciated."

"It's her name," a brunette said. "She's named Lucy… like the bat."

"The bat is Lucille dumbass," Pamela said with a snarl.

Lucy laughed out loud because the statement was so stupid it was funny. "Lucy is short for Lucille dumbass," she said through her laughter. "Now where the fuck is Negan? You'll tell me or I'm going to have to start cutting heads off with my little knife here."

Pamela looked appropriately rebuffed by her statement when she pointed to another set of double doors. "He's with Marty and Ginger. But you'll have to wait till he's done with them because the door is locked and he keeps the key," she said haughtily.

Lucy laughed again before pushing Eugene towards a couch where three women were seated. "You think so huh? It just so happens I have a key of my own… Pamela."

Lucy planted her boot in the center of the door just below the lock. She knew it was just going to be a basic deadbolt and with enough pressure below the lock she could pop the door open. She drew her foot back and kicked as hard as she could and to her delight the door flew open. "What the actual fuck?!"

"No," she whispered.

She focused on a large bed in the center of the room which was occupied by three naked people one of which was a very naked and thrusting Coach. "What the fuck is going on?" he screamed pulling out of the woman he was with and flipping around to face the now open door.

She was stuck to her spot. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe. She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before he pushed himself off the bed and started towards her. "Lucy… fuck… Lucy… I…"

She held her hand up to stop him. "Rule number one… Negan."

She turned on her heel and left the room leaving behind a group of very confused women, a bleeding Eugene and a pissed off Negan.

Negan stared at Eugene for a moment trying to understand what he was really looking at in his apartment. "She do that to you?" he asked, indicating the cut marks that continued to ooze blood.

Eugene nodded, but didn't speak. "Fuck!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Will the Real Negan Please Stand up

"Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together," she kept chanting to herself as she ran down the stairs and out of the building Eugene had taken her too.

She stopped for a moment and grabbed her back pack from behind the water barrel where she had left it earlier. She slung it over her shoulders and kept moving towards the front gate of the compound. "Lu… Lucy," she heard Thomas call, but she ignored him. "Lu… Lucy!"

She kept walking. Picking up speed she was almost sprinting now. She had to leave. "Keep it together," she said again.

The gate was closed, she couldn't have been lucky enough for it to be open when she approached. "Where the fuck do you think you're going princess?" Arrat said from her perch atop a set of stairs.

"Leaving."

Arrat started laughing. "Nobody leaves princess. Nobody."

Lucy stood still for a moment. She flashed back through the year she had spent alone and what she had done to survive. She had let that Lucy slip away when she was with him. She had become the sweet, naive girl she had been before all this shit started. She couldn't' do that anymore though. She had to be the Lucy that survived. The Lucy that lived by the rules.

When she made eye contact with Arrat the woman took a step back from her. Lucy's eyes had deadened and what had been labored breathing before had now become calm and even. "Open the fucking gates," she said quietly.

Arrat stared at her. "No," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

Their standoff had drawn the attention of two other guards who were approaching the women from either side. Lucy never took her eyes off of Arrat, but she counted their paces to determine who close they were to the women. "Open the fucking gate now and no one has to die."

Arrat laughed again. "The only one dying today is you… princess. He got tired of you faster than I thought."

"Everything ok Arrat?" one of the other guards asked. He was now standing two steps away from the women.

"This bitch thinks she's leaving. I was just explaining to her that no one leaves."

"And I was trying to keep everyone alive. One more chance, open the gate and let me go and no one has to die today."

Arrat smiled. "No."

"Wrong answer," Lucy said.

She was fast and it worked to her advantage that they underestimated her and her abilities. She hadn't survived all that time alone because she wasn't skilled though. Before any of the three could move she had pulled one of the male guard's guns and popped the other in the center of his forehead just before ramming her machete through the chin of the other. She cut the strap of the gun as the guard next to her fell and kept her eyes on Arrat.

"Open the fucking gate," she growled.

Arrat kept her hands in the air and moved slowly back towards the pulley system that would open the front gate to the compound. "Bad ass bitch," she muttered under her breath.

"Well fuck me sideways!" a voice said from behind her. "I knew it. I knew that you were special Lucy. I just didn't realize that you were talented with more than your mouth and your pussy."

She turned slightly to face Negan but kept Arrat in her line of sight as well. "You fucked this guy up baby! I mean look at him! You cut his fucking head in half! I have to say I'm impressed. Even more reason for me to keep you."

"I'm leaving."

"I don't think so."

"You gave your word."

"No… no… see Eugene back here, who is kind of ticked at you for cutting into his creamy skin like you did, he gave his word since he was pretending to be me. You don't have any kind of promise Lucy baby. Only the promise that I'll take care of you."

She smirked at him. "But you gave me your word remember? You gave me your safety guarantee. If I came back with you and gave this place… gave Negan," she spat out, "a chance. Then if I changed my mind I could walk away."

He frowned at her. "You going back on your promise Negan? On your… honor? I thought that was one of those standards that you should live by right? Always keep your honor."

He glared at her. "You aren't leaving Lucy. It's for your own good."

"Fuck you Negan. You want me for your good. It has nothing to do with protecting me or… loving me. You proved that."

He watched her carefully and she glared at him. He didn't think she had noticed Arrat moving towards her slowly until she whirled around and put a bullet in the woman's left knee. "Damn," he said in appreciation. "You didn't even aim."

"Talented. Special." She spat at him. "Now open the gates and let me walk."

Negan's voice was barely a whisper when he spoke next. "What if I don't want you to go?"

She laughed. She laughed a deep guttural laugh that made him frown deeper. "You can want in one hand and shit in the other and see which one weighs more," she said with a grin. "Now open the fucking gates."

Negan glared at her. "Fine!" he shouted. "Fine! Fine! Fine! That is just fucking fine! You can take your old wrinkled ass out of here! I enjoyed your mouth that night in the dark when I couldn't see who was sucking my dick, but I had to imagine some incredible things to get off when I was fucking you Lucy!"

She wavered for a moment as his words stung at her insecurities. He saw the waver and went in for the kill. "You were so cock hungry, so lonely, that you didn't really care who I thought of when I fucked you? Did you Lucy? Why would I want to fuck some saggy tit chick when I have prime, grade A ass upstairs that will do whatever I want? That's why you want to leave isn't it bitch? You saw me fucking Ginger and you figured out that I never really wanted you!"

He laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Come on Lucy baby. Stay. I'll keep pretending your someone else but I'll make you feel good when I fuck you."

She snorted. "Pretend it wasn't real Negan. Pretend you don't have feelings, but I know better. Now open the fucking gate!"

He sighed and pursed his lips. "Open the gate Dwight."

Dwight didn't question. He moved quickly to the pulley system and opened the gate just enough that Lucy could squeeze through. "Hey Lucy!" Negan shouted at her as she sprinted away from the compound. "I hope you turn!"

"Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together," she chanted to herself as she raced away from the compound.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Breakdown

Lucy had been running wide open for probably fifteen minutes when she finally had to slow down. Her lungs were bursting with the need to move more than the small amount of air she was currently breathing. She slowed down, but continued down the road at a brisk walk. She couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. "Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together," she kept chanting to herself as she moved down the asphalt.

She had gone in the opposite direction from which she and Negan had originally traveled because she knew there was nothing back there except memories and death. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she had to keep moving. "Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together," she kept chanting.

His words came to her in droves. They played on her insecurities. She pushed them away, but they kept coming back to the surface of her mind. "You knew it was too good to be true dumbass," she chastised herself. "You stopped following the rules and this is what happened! Stick to the rules!"

She noticed a biter along the side of the road, but she didn't stop to deal with him. If he wanted to end his meager existence today then he would follow her, otherwise she didn't have time. She had to keep moving. "Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together."

She ran for several miles before her lungs were close to bursting again, then she slowed to a brisk walk. She was pushing her body beyond its limitations, but she didn't care. She had to get as far away from them… from him… as possible. "Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together."

It was almost two hours later that her pushing caught up with her. She tripped over her own feet and fell to the asphalt. She dry heaved and threw up her stomach contents onto the road. She heard screaming. There was a woman screaming. "Dumbass," she thought. "She's going to draw every biter in the area."

She realized with a start she wanted the biters to come. Not for her. No she needed to deal with her aggression. She laughed inside when she realized it had been her screaming the entire time. She turned her face up to the sky and screamed louder. Her head hurt and she realized it was because her hands were fisted in her hair pulling it from the root. Why did she trust him? Why did she break the rules? She had done so well. Had been so proud. Why did she break the rules?

"Let it loose," she told herself.

She stood from the ground with her machete in her hand. The first biter was a female, dressed I the leftover rags of her now dirty floral dress. "Who broke your heart?" she said out loud, before cutting the biters head in half with her machete.

Two more were moving towards her and she waited patiently for them to arrive. "How many women did you fuck and leave?" she asked the one dressed in a t-shirt and shorts before she pushed the machete through his chin.

She pulled her knife back slinging blood across her face in the process. "And you," she said to the biter who was shirtless and missing an arm. "How many hearts have you broken?"

She plunged the machete through his temple and separated his skull when she pulled it back to her. Another growl had her spinning towards the wood line and she paused taking in the appearance of the biter moving towards her now. He was tall and had a head full of dark hair. It had not been long since he turned because the majority of his flesh was still intact. He wore jeans, black dirty boots, and a blue and white stripped button down shirt that had the word Coach embroidered on the top right side. She watched him move towards her and for a moment she replaced the biter with her Coach. The grinning, good looking older man who was going to let her have a break from caring for herself.

She flashed through memories of the last three weeks they had spent together. The moments in the shack and on the road. Him showing her their apartment and making love to her in their bed. Then she thought about his departing words. The biter was on top of her now and with a grimace and a growl she thrust her machete through the top of his head splitting him down to his spine. "I hate you," she whispered.

The biter collapsed in a heap at her feet and she turned her face towards the sky again before screaming. It was only as the scream drifted into the air that she discovered that her breakdown had an audience. She turned around to glare at the black woman with a head full of dreadlocks and the tall white man who carried a colt python on his hip. "Can I help you?" she asked with a deadly glare.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Authors note

So that ends this story. I have a gullible sense when it comes to bad guys and I always want to see the good in them! That's where this little tid bit came from! Now the question is do I continue with more of Lucy's story? What do you think? Review and let me know. I have an idea where the story is headed, but I'll only write it if there is interest. I've got other projects in mind as well. Thanks AA


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